Dowel hole drilling device

ABSTRACT

A dowel hole drilling device comprising a clamp means for maintaining the member to be drilled therebetween and a pair of support members extending upwardly therefrom. A support means is adjustably vertically mounted on the support members and has one end of an arm member selectively horizontally secured thereto. A vertically disposed guide collar is secured to the other end of the arm member and has a vertically movable drive member rotatably mounted therein. The upper end of the drive member is adapted to be secured to the chuck of an electric drill. The lower end of the drive member is adapted to have a drill bit secured thereto in a manner which permits the easy removal and insertion of the drill bit. A spring detent means is provided in the guide collar for yieldably maintaining the drive member in its uppermost position.

United States Patent 1 [111 3 738 766 7 9 Elder, Jr. June 12, 1973 DOWEL HOLE DRILLING DEVICE Primary Examiner-Francis S. Husar [76] Inventor: Walter Elder, Jr., Route No. l, Anomey'lafley' McKee & Thomm Waukee, Iowa 50263 [57] ABSTRACT [22] Filed: 1971 A dowel hole drilling device comprising a clamp means [21] Appl. No.: 169,012 for maintaining the member to be drilled therebetween and a pair of support members extending upwardly [52] U 5 CI 408/109 279/76 279/83 therefrom. A support means is adjustably vertically 83/563 mounted on the support members and has one end of [51] In. CL B23) 45/14 an arm member selectively horizontally secured [58] Field I109 thereto. A vertically disposed guide collar is secured to 279/76 4 3 6, the other end of the arm member and has a vertically 64/3, OM29? movable drive member rotatably mounted therein. The upper end of the drive member is adapted to be secured the chuck of an electric drill. The lower end of the [56] References Cited drive member IS adapted to have a drill bit secured UNITED STATES PATENTS thereto in a manner which permits the easy removal insertion of the A spring detent means is 3,368,436 2/1968 We sbeck 83/563 X provided in the guide collar for yiekjably maintaining 353 189 11/1886 White 279/83 2 621 688 12/1952 Wales I:11:11::IIIIIIIIIIII/bi ss.1 x the dnvc member m Ppermst 2 Claims, 3 Drawing Figures DOWEL HOLE DRILLING DEVICE Dowels and dowel holes are used extensively in the furniture and woodworking fields. It is difficult to obtain uniform alignment and uniform depth when drilling holes. In addition, it is hard to obtain perfectly perpendicular holes with respect to the object being drilled.

A dowel hole drilling device has been previously disclosed in U. S. Pat. No. 3,362,447 which issued to the applicant herein on Jan. 9, 1968. The previous dowel hole drilling device was generally .satisfactory and the instant invention represents significant improvements in the previous device.

A principal object of this invention is to provide a means to drill properly aligned dowel holes.

A further object of this invention is to provide a means whereby dowel holes may be drilled to uniform depth.

A further object of this invention is to provide a means which can be adapted to drill various sized boards.

A further object of this invention is to provide a means whereby objects to be drilled will be securely held in place with respect to the dowel hole drilling device.

A further object of this invention is to provide a dowel hole drilling device which permits vertical as well as horizontal adjustment of the drill bit with respect to the workpiece- A further object of this invention is to provide a dowel hole drilling device having means thereon which permits the drill bit to be easily removed and inserted into the drive member.

A further object of this invention is to provide a dowel hole drilling device including a spring detent means which yieldably maintains the drive member in its uppermost position.

A further object of this invention is to provide a dowel hole drilling device which is easily fabricated and assembled.

A still further object of this invention is to provide a dowel hole drilling device that is economical of manufacture, durable in use and refined in appearance.

These and other objects will be apparent to those skilled in the art.

This invention consists in the construction, arrangements, and combination of the various parts of the device, whereby the objects contemplated are attained as hereinafter more fully set forth, specifically pointed out in the claims, and illustrated in the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the dowel hole drilling device of this invention.

FIG. 2 is a fragmentary side elevational view of the device; and

FIG. 3 is an enlarged sectional view seen along lines 3-3 of FIG. 1 with-a portion of the drive member cut away to more fully illustrate the invention.

The dowel hole drilling device of this invention is generally referred to by the reference numeral with the reference numeral 12 referring to a conventional electric drill including a rotatable chuck 14. The numeral l6 refers generally to the object to be drilled such as a board or the like.

The device includes a clamping means 18 including an upper portion 20 and vertical jaws 22 and 24 extending downwardly from the opposite ends thereof. It

can be seen in FIG. 1 that the upper portion 20 is provided with a cut away portion 26. A threaded clamping screw 28 threadably extends through jaw 22 and has a handle 30 on its outer end. The inner end of the screw 28 is provided with a clamping plate 32.

A pair of vertically disposed support rods 34 and 36 are secured to clamping means 18 and extend upwardly therefrom in a spaced apart relationship as seen in FIG. 1. A support means 38 having bores 40 and 42 formed therein slidably embraces rods 34 and 36. A screw 44 threadably extends inwardly into support means 38 from side thereof and engages rod 36 to maintain the support means 38 in various positions of its vertical movement with respect to rods 34 and 36. Support means 38 has an opening 46 extending horizontally therethrough which is adapted to slidably receive the arm member 48. A screw 50 threadably extends downwardly into support means 38 and is adapted to engage the flat upper portion 52 of the arm member 48 to maintain the arm member 48 in various positions of its horizontal movement with respect to the support member 38.

A hollow guide collar 54 is provided on the outer end of arm member 48 and has a vertically disposed bore 56 extending therethrough. A horizontally disposed bore 58 is provided in the collar 54 as illustrated in FIG. 3. Drive member 60 is rotatably mounted in the bore 56 and is vertically movable with respect thereto. The drive member 60 has an annular groove 62 formed therein which is engaged by the detent ball 64 when the drive member 60 is in its uppermost position such as illustrated in FIG. 3. Detent spring 66 yieldably maintains the detent ball 64 in engagement with the groove 62. Snap ring 68 is secured to the upper end of drive member 60 and is adapted to engage the upper end of the collar 54 to limit the downward movement of the drive member 60. A snap ring 70 is secured to the drive member 60 adjacent the lower end thereof to limit the upper movement of the drive member 60 with respect to the collar 54. A drive shaft 72 extends upwardly from the drive member 60 and is adapted to be received in the chuck 14 of the drill 12.

The drive member 60 has a pair of communicating openings 74 and 76 formed in the lower end thereof as seen in FIG. 3. A set screw 78 threadably extends inwardly through the lower end of the drive member 78 into the opening 74. Opening 76 is adapted to receive the upper end of a drill bit 80 with the set screw 78 adaptd to engage the drill bit to secure the drill bit to the drive member.

The device is easily fabricated and assembled due to the fact that the various components can be separately produced and assembled. The drive member 60 is easily mounted in the guide collar 54 by means of the snap rings 68 and 70 and the simplified construction of this dvice results in the device being economical to manufacture. The usual method of operation is as follows. A workpiece 16 is placed between the jaws 22 and 24 with the clamping screw 28 being turned until the clamping plate 32 rigidly engages the workpiece 16. A drill bit 80 of the desired diameter is inserted upwardly into the openings 74 and 76 with the set screw 78 then being tightened. The'fact that the opening 74 hasa larger diameter than the opening 76 insures that the drill bit 80 can be easily removed from the drive member 60. If openings 74 and 76 were of the same diameter, it would be difficult to remove the drill bit 80 therefrom since the engagement of the set screw 78 with the drill bit tends to create an irregular surface or burr on the drill bit and such a burr would create difficulty in removing the drill bit 80 therefrom. In the arrangement of the instant invention, any burr or irregular surface created on the drill bit by the set screw 78 will not cause any difficulty in removing the bit 80 from the member 60 since the enlarged opening 74 will not be engaged by the burr or irregular surface.

The detent ball 64 yieldably maintains the drive member 60 in its uppermost position as previously described. After determining the depth that the dowel hole is to be drilled, the screw 44 is loosened to permit the support member 38 to be raised or lowered accordingly. Likewise, the screw 50 would be loosened to permit the drill bit to be positioned with respect to the workpiece with the screw 50 then being retightened. The electric drill 12 is then turned on which causes the rotation of the drive member 60 and the drill bit 80. The drill bit 80 is caused to penetrate the workpiece 16 by simply exerting downward pressure on the drill l2. Downward pressure on the drill 12 causes the detent ball 64 to move out of engagement with the groove 62. The downward movement of the drill bit 80 is limited by the engagement of the snap ring 68 with the upper end of the guide collar 54. When the hole has been drilled, the drill is raised upwardly until the detent ball 64 again engages the groove 62 to maintain the drive member 60 in its uppermost position. The drill 12 is then de-energized.

Thus it can be seen that an extremely simplified dowel hole drilling device has been provided which is easily manufactured and assembled. It can also be seen that a unique means has been provided for maintaining the drill bit out of engagement with the workpiece and that a novel means has been provided which insures that the drill bit can be easily removed from the drive member. Thus it can be seen that the invention accomplishes at least all of its stated objectives.

1 claim:

1. [n a dowel hole drilling device,

a clamp means comprised of an upper portion and a pair of vertically disposed jaws extending downwardly therefrom and a tightening means on at least one of said jaws adapted to maintain a workpiece between said jaws at times,

a first support means extending upwardly from said upper portion of said clamp means,

an arm member selectively horizontally slidably mounted on said first support means,

a vertically disposed guide collar means on one end of said arm member,

and a vertically disposed drive means rotatably mounted in said collar means and vertically movable therein, the upper end of said drive means being adapted to be operatively secured to a drill means and the lower end of said drive means being adapted to have a drill bit operatively secured thereto,

said drive means being cylindrical and having an annular groove formed therein, a detent means in said guide collar means for yieldable engagement with said annular groove for yieldably maintaining said drive means in a position whereby the drill bit is normally out of engagement with the workpiece.

2. The device of claim 1 wherein a limit means is secured to said drive means adjacent the upper end thereof adapted to engage said guide collar means to limit the downward movement of said guide collar means, said limit means comprising a snap ring detachably secured to said drive means. 

1. In a dowel hole drilling device, a clamp means comprised of an upper portion and a pair of vertically disposed jaws extending downwardly therefrom and a tightening means on at least one of said jaws adapted to maintain a workpiece between said jaws at times, a first support means extending upwardly from said upper portion of said clamp means, an arm member selectively horizontally slidably mounted on said first support means, a vertically disposed guide collar means on one end of said arm member, and a vertically disposed drive means rotatably mounted in said collar means and vertically movable therein, the upper end of said drive means being adapted to be operatively secured to a drill means and the lower end of said drive means being adapted to have a drill bit operatively secured thereto, said drive means being cylindrical and having an annular groove formed therein, a detent means in said guide collar means for yieldable engagement with said annular groove for yieldably maintaining said drive means in a position whereby the drill bit is normally out of engagement with the workpiece.
 2. The device of claim 1 wherein a limit means is secured to said drive means adjacent the upper end thereof adapted to engage said guide collar means to limit the downward movement of said guide collar means, said limit means comprising a snap ring detachably secured to said drive means. 